The week in Tech: 5 must-know things

Mar. 29, 2013
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by Julia Ryan, USA TODAY

by Julia Ryan, USA TODAY

This week in the tech world, T-Mobile finally added one of the most popular smartphones to its lineup, Yahoo hired an employee younger than the company itself, and BlackBerry talked about its revamp. Here's what you need to know about the week in Tech:

T-Mobile will start carrying the iPhone on April 12, nearly six years after its debut. Here's what you need to know:

â?¢ Simple Choice plan: T-Mobile has dropped the standard two-year contract for mobile devices in favor of a wireless plan that lets users pay the full price of the phone over installments.

â?¢ Price: The iPhone 5 is available for $99.99 down plus $20 a month for 24 months. T-Mobile will also offer the iPhone 4 for $14.99 down and $15 a month and the iPhone 4S for $69.99 down and $20 a month.

â?¢ Data plan: Plans start at $50 a month for 500 MB of 4G data.

â?¢ Release date: Pre-orders start on April 5, and the phone will be available in stores on April 12.

While most 17-year-olds worry about getting into college or getting a date for the prom, Nick D'Aloisio has much bigger things on his mind: working for a major tech company.

The young Brit made headlines this week when Yahoo bought his mobile news reader, Summly, for $30 million. The company will shut down the app and incorporate its components into existing Yahoo products.

This buyout is part of Yahoo's larger plan to tap into the coveted 18-to-34-year-old demographic. The company will hit the road this summer with a concert series featuring popular music artists, including Jay-Z, Frank Ocean and Justin Timberlake.

The 'BioShock' series is back with a new 'spiritual successor," BioShock Infinite. Players follow protagonist Booker DeWitt as he hunts down a young woman named Elizabeth in the steampunk-themed cloud city of Columbia in 1912.

So how is the game?

The good: Improvements include a more engaged sidekick (Elizabeth) and a dynamic story.

The bad: Infinite's villains aren't as compelling as the Big Daddy, the villain of the first BioShock game in 2007. Replayability is limited once the player finishes the 15-hour game.

The bottom line: USA TODAY's Brett Molina says that even though Infinite has a few flaws, it is "easily one of this year's best interactive endeavors."

BlackBerry surprised the tech world this week with the announcement that it had a surge in profit during the fourth quarter and shipped 6 million smartphones.

However, don't call it a comeback just yet. USA TODAY's Ed Baig says that while BlackBerry's earnings report is positive, it doesn't mean guaranteed long-term success. The company needs to convince potential customers that its new BlackBerry Z10 is better than Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S4 and the HTC One, not to mention a rumored new iPhone from Apple.

Baig also points out that BlackBerry lost 3 million subscribers since the last quarter "and the future remains anything but certain."